Christianizing the Roman Empire: A.D. 100-400

by Ramsay MacMullen

Book Overview

How did the early Christian church manage to win its dominant place in the Roman world? In his newest book, an eminent historian of ancient Rome examines this question from a secular--rather than an... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0300036426
• Release Date: January 1984
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Length: 184 Pages
• Weight: 0.71 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

The Best History for History's Sake! No Games.

Ramsay MacMullen's history of Christianity is brilliant. This is not the hokey stuff that is passed off as Critical Ancient History by the busybodies of various movements. You are in the right place. Marilyn Vos Savant says, "An expert is a person who not only knows everything that can be learned about a subject, but also knows which of that stuff is wrong". MacMullen is not easy to read. There will be some struggling. It is worth it! He is a master historian of the Roman Empire. I absolutely love his work. Read everything you can get your hands on. You will be astonished! MacMullen is highly respected by the members of the Association of Ancient Historians.(his fellow Pro's) You will learn why this is so. And maybe, how you were earlier conned, but you were too naive to know. I loathe those who abuse history to further their cause and make themselves look good! It makes me want to vomit.Charlie Turek, Magician, Order of Merlin

History -- not diatribe

I am delighted with this book because it presents the factsabout early christianity without going into a diatribe insome particular direction. This is a book about the documentedhistory of christianity -- not pro christian dogma and notanti-christian diatribe. While documentation is not the endof every possible controversy (in fact the book brings up newquestions) it is at least helpful to know what information canin fact be found -- and to know what is not to be found.

Solid History

Many of the reviews below are excellent, so this will be short. Throughout, the book bases its arguments solely on evidence of which there is a paucity for this time period. MacMullens strength however is beyond the examination of the evidence. He appears to set aside any attempt to spiritualize this time period or romanticize the practice of Xianity therein. Some his statements are surprising (e.g., that ater Paul, there is virtually no evidence of itinerant evangelism explicitly aimed at UNbelievers/ NONchristians), and most of these are arguments from silence though very probable in light of other evidence. Overall, this work is thorough, concise, and respectable. It achieves an examination of the early Christian faith as history while repudiating any attempts to use the primitive faith as a modern pulpit from which to preach. The book is quite concise, but its contents are so pithy as to prove to be an inspiration and guide for much further investigation.

Amazing story, solid scholarship

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN: In 100 AD Christianity was a minor cult, by 400 AD it was on it's way to converting the vast empire. How? Well, convincing the Emperor (Constantine, 312 AD) and being able to kill people who disagreed helped. But earlier, between 100 and 300, Christian miracle workers won converts. Martyrs were less common and less important than you'd think.MacMullen had devoted a 40 year career to ancient Rome around this time. Every conclusion he draws is based on original ancient sources. This book is based on non-Christian sources and looks at the early conversions as the ancient non-christians would have understood them. Highly recommended. And yes, it is hard to read.

What "Conversion" to Christianity Meant, 100-400 A.D.

MacMullen's portraits of how people of the Empire became "Christians" are indelible -- and possibly, to some, disturbing. His account of how masses, crowds, throngs -- were "converted" to Christianity at the same time, on the same occasion, is riveting and thought-provoking. MacMullen describes too the very real, "everyday," yet typically, today, minimized, way miracles led to conversion and the Christianizing of the Roman Empire. Indeed, MacMullen's assessment (buttressed by his nearly exclusive reliance on primary sources) of what conversion meant in the first centuries after Christ is the heart of the book. MacMullen deploys indefatigable erudition (don't shrug off the footnotes: they contain some of the best writing in the book) and expresses himself with style, even grace, a thoughtful man writing authoritatively -- if at times iconoclastically -- about a crucial passage in the development of Christianity and rise of the West.